Farida Nabourema

Farida Nabourema (@Farida_N) is a political activist and writer and Executive Director of the Togolese Civil League, an NGO that promotes democracy and human rights in Togo through grassroots organizing, civic education and advocacy.  She was announced as a Senior Research Fellow at the United States Institute of Peace in October, 2020. Her research project investigates how and why security forces, and those within and outside nonviolent movements, use gender-based repression. The research studies the scope and impact of gender-based repression against women in nonviolent movements through four case studies in Algeria, Sudan, Togo and Zimbabwe.

Farida is the unequivocal voice of Togo’s pro-democracy movement. She has been a fearless advocate since she was a teenager. In hundreds of articles on her blog and other sites, Farida denounces corruption, dictatorship and promotes progressive Pan Africanism. In 2014, Farida published a book in French titled “La Pression de oppression” (The Pressure of Oppression) in which she discusses different forms of oppression that people face throughout Africa, highlighting the need for youth and women to be politically engaged.

Farida founded the ‘Faure Must Go’ movement in 2011, organizing Togolese youth to stand against the dictatorial regime of Faure Gnassingbe.  She was awarded the 2017 African Youth and Young Advocate of the Year. In 2018, she was listed by Time Magazine as one the four global crusaders for democracy. She is an alumni of American University where she majored in International Studies.